Wednesday, January 31, 2018

From my early age I couldn't refer to the man who would be my step dad by his real name. His name was the name not to be spoken in front my my father. According to my dad the man who took my mother away from him would be forever known as, The Ass. I just found out that The Ass, has died.I
hadn’t seen him in many years but it doesn't affect how I remember his life.

You see when I was very young my mom left my dad for The Ass.
I suppose there was a lot of animosity brewing over the years between my
parents but I was 2 years old when their break up occurred so it might as well have been
another lifetime for me.

The Ass was the opposite of my dad. My father is a
workaholic. He still works two jobs this very day. I talk with him and see him
but my time spent with him is like being on my very own time clock.

“Hi, dad,” punching in. “Bye, dad,” punching out.

The Ass on the other hand was athletic. He played football very well. Played
golf exceptionally well (no mistake he looked just like Arnold Palmer, he sure played like
him.) And he enjoyed the outdoors. During my childhood with him and my early
20’s The Ass showed me how to play sports, fish, snorkel, ski, golf and camp.

I remember when he held the back part of my bicycle seat as if
it were a football and he ran like a star running back of an American football team who just cleared the defensive line and was headed into the open field. His pounding feet struck the asphalt as he ran along side of me and pushed me along. The soles of his white Reebok sneakers rotated as quickly as my feet could peddle and the black tires of my bike smoothly sailed off as he let go. I was finally able
to ride a bike without my training wheels.

The Ass got me, all of my brothers really, a job at the Inverrary Golf Course. The original home of, Jackie Gleason’s
Honda Classic. We worked together, talked together and enjoyed our lunch
together. We spent months perfecting my golf club grip. I had fun working there.

I was around when my mother talked to him on the phone when he was by his father’s bedside watching him die.
My mom listened to the Preacher give last rites. I heard them cry. I was too
young and dumb to understand his father's death but I will never forget the car ride up
to Titusville to help him pack his mom’s belongings who passed away years later.

He told me the stories of growing up across from the rocket launch
pads in the heyday of NASA when spaceflight was in its infancy. He boasted how he watched all the Apollo rockets make their way
into space. “Hell, I didn’t even know they were having a launch one night until
the rocket was lit and it shook me off the toilet seat.”

But it was his statement on our way home from his mom's house that would have a profound affect on me for the rest of my life.

“It’s a weird feeling, Chris. When both your parents are
dead. When my parents were alive, no matter what happened in my life, I
could always go home. And not necessarily live with them. Just go home and talk
to them. Figure things out. But now all that is gone. I feel like an orphan.”

I moved on past his derogatory name, The Ass. On that day we were having Thanksgiving dinner. I asked my dad to come in and he said, "if you mom will have me, I will." All of us had Thanksgiving dinner. My dad's animosity went away.

But now that Edward has died I feel sad I did not have the
closure with him so I could thank him for the things I learned about him and from him. Share with him the memories, like helping my study my spelling words. Explaining to me what having a Green Thumb meant by showing me how to cut the grass. or building my moms greenhouse. How to fish from the beach, jetties and piers. How he
learned how to crab in the Chesapeake Bay and passed on the lessons of cooking and eating blue crabs.

About 6 months ago I searched for Edward, Ed, Ned, Eddie. But
I could not find him. We found out about his death when his son found my sister
on Facebook.

Life brings people together for one reason or another. Of
course they come and go and we pay no mind to the ones who left because we are
all so caught up in our own lives to realize that time is fleeting and with
every new day there’s a chance tomorrow will never come. My experience is the perfect example on how us human
beings take the miracle of life for granted.

I thought I would have time to find Edward and tell
him everything that I just wrote. But that moment is gone. I must now deal
with the regret of not telling him thanks for being, a dad. I assumed life would
always give me the time for that. But this is not to be. Edward, thanks for being a dad to me. I hope
that rocket ship took you to your parents so you can feel at home again.

Captain Imperfecto and Christopher at the fair he's like 6'8" in this photo!

Friday, December 29, 2017

Well, if nothing tragically happens to me in the next few
days, like death. I have lived out another year. Goodbye 2017 and now onto the
year, 2018.Let the champagne flow into
my champagne flute and may the confetti rain down upon on me as if I was swinging
on a pole at some sordid strip club. Let the New Year’s resolutions commence.

Wow, 2018 is here and only two more years until this decade come
to a close. It is already hard fathom a year coming to a close. As evident by
the comments we hear at least half the year gone, “Man can you believe it’s Halloween already. Wow,
Thanksgiving already? Damn, it’s Christmas.”

But I’m even more taken a back when the decade is nearing
its expiration. At least I will be able to review it again when VH1 plays the
television show, “I Love the 2010’s.” 10 years nearly gone. That is more
dramatic than closing a year, like 2017!

What is great about this moment of my life, in this time,
right here in this very second, during each key stroke of this sentence I can
be thankful that all of my family and friends made it through the past year as
well. For that, I’m grateful because if you have seen any news stories this
year or have lost a dear loved one, you know all too well that it is hard to
make it during a full year.

Reflecting back on the past year I know we will be showered
with montages of famous people who died. Tom Petty, John Heard, Bill Paxton,
just to name a few that had an impact on me during my lifetime, in
some-sort-of-way.

But we should not forget about the horrific deaths in
#LasVegas #Route91, The #Charlottesville Heather Heyer, #Texaschurchshooting,
#FortLauderdaleairport shooting, #LincolnCountyshooting.

They say it’s good to age like fine wine. Aged to perfection
and enjoyed once we maximize our peak. We will be wiser and have much more
insight into life. Pop the cork, let it breathe and then chug what life is
offering because you’re a wise older person. So with that sentiment in mind I
do my best to live in the moment and taking sips of my aged wine and enjoy the
fruits of my labor. I'm still honoring my 2017 New Year's resolution since it isn't over yet!

When I’m not being narcissistic about where I am in this
life. In this moment. At this second. I reflect on the family and friends who I
lost in the past decades. Just years ago I could hug my grandmothers, talk to
my friend, or have the birth mother of my children here to see those 2 boys
grow. It is sad. Did I say wine? On second thought pass the whisky this
nostalgia is killing me.

As another decade encroaches and with another New Year’s
just days away from closing out 2017. I will live day by day and be grateful
that I can talk to the ones here who also made it out of 2017. Trust me, there
is nothing more hard on your emotions than talking to someone today and then
they are gone forever the next day. What will make it much harder is a year from now when you reflect on the closing of 2018 you will not believe how
normal things were in 2017 and how your whole life changed in an instant
because you lost someone. All you will want to do it go back to the days when
life seemed simple. Good health and good fortune is paramount to happiness.
Good health and good fortune go hand and hand.

Closing out 2017 with sips of champagne is a fitting end to
what you accomplished during the year. You will make yourself a New Year
resolution about losing weight, quitting smoking or some other vice, or just
being a better person. But when 2017 closes and you enter the golden gates of
2018 just make one resolution. Love, live and enjoy 2018 with your family
friends until the last day of the year. You never know what is lurking in the months ahead and who you will remember the most because you miss them so much. The good thing is you can hug them and tell them you love them this very second.Happy New Year 2017. My resolution is still in effect until the very last day. And I resolve to live out 2018! Cheers! Here's to good things.

**I know some people were distraught during 2017. Whether is
was political, or emotional people didn’t enjoy this past year. But always
remember. Your life matters to you more than anyone. Make your life a happy one
because YOU are in control of that.

Monday, December 25, 2017

Confined to my wheelchair I feel depressed and upset that I can’t
participate in many things that people who can walk take for granted. The
plastic of my seat sticks to my skin. I can’t move around objects without
worrying that I will knock something over. And people just don’t know what to
do when I’m around. Do they help me? Do they not help me? They are so confused.
Yes, help me.

Every year my Christmas wish is to lift myself off this steal
frame and walk under my own power. What I wouldn’t give to feel the blades of
grass tickle the bottom of my feet. I’m sure I would giggle. Unsure if it was
due to the grass or the pure excitement of walking. Christmas seems so right to
ask for this special gift because of the magical atmosphere around me. And yet every
Christmas will pass and I know I will still be stuck in my wheelchair. But that
won’t persuade me not to ask next year again.

Desperate to have my wish come true I went to see the mall Santa.
I told him “all I want to do is walk for a brief moment.”

He said, “ well young man, Santa can’t work miracles but I sure
will try to accommodate you.”

But years went by and it never happened. Once I thought my wish
wouldn’t count because I wasn’t actually sitting on his lap. So the very next
year I went back to see that mall Santa and demanded that his elves pick up out
of my chair and place me on his lap. “Santa cannot work miracles,” he quipped,
“nevertheless I will try again. I don’t want to disappoint you. Although I
think ultimately you can only be disappointed with me.”

I left my mall Santa sad and depressed. I wheeled my chariot down
the sidewalk onto 23rd Street and with all my strength wheeled up to
the top of Katherine Bridge. I did not expect to come back. I stopped my
wheelchair close to the edge. The water did no move or even ripple. It as if
the powerful river held it’s breath. Not ready for another jumper. “It’s okay
water,” I said. “I can’t even jump.”

Staring at the black water below me I thought that no one or
anything was going to help me. There was no such thing as a miracle to make
things better for me. The air was cool and crisp. My ears felt as numb as my
legs. It was so cold. Christmas Eve was happening without me. Another year in
this chair. I can’t bear it.The black sky gave way to a glimmer of
something shinning from the top down. I

“What are you doing there any of the bridge,” of voice spoke to me
in the cool breeze.

“Oh I don’t know. Just thinking. Thinking about my life.”

“What are you thinking about?” The subtle little boys voice
asked.

I looked around trying to find out where the mysterious voice was
coming from and up in the rafters of the bridge amongst the twinkling lights of
the far out stars there was a miracle of Christmas. I knew who it was. The
voice was the one thing I had longed to hear me through all my prayers.

The miracle of Christmas wasn’t really a shape or form. I just
felt peace and serenity surround me and all of a sudden I felt safe. This
mysterious voice came a long way from the spirit of Christmas up from above in
the land of Christmas.

“I really want to walk,” I started. “I want to take advantage of
what people take for granted everyday. Every year I wish and pray to stand on
my own legs. And every year I don’t get it.”

“This will make you life complete?”

“It would be a start.”

The wind twirled around me rapidly like a tornado. Like hands the
wind lifted me out of the chair and spun me around. Night turned to day. I was
walking amongst the people. I was
dancing on the water. Running on the riverbanks. I floated in the air as my
toes danced on the grass below. My footprints were left in the sand. A trail of
one foot after another footprint tracked my path of pure ecstasy.

“Are you in pure joy?” the voice of Christmas asked.

“Yes,” I shouted with glee.

“Did you the laughter of the children as you strolled through the
park?”

“No.”

“The wind blowing off the lake onto your face as you stood on that
riverbank.

“Did you taste the eggnog as you sipped it at the party? Or enjoy
the candy cane when you walked through the Christmas tree lot? Did you watch
the waves of the ocean fill in your footprints as the water flowed onto the
shore?

This walking is a one-time event. This is your Christmas miracle.
But it only last for this day. But sadly you will return to where your place is
at this time of your life. Miracles don’t last forever.”

I was sad. This wasn’t going to last. But I realized all the
things that I had but took for granted. The Christmas miracle woke me up to
what I had forgotten. I may be stuck in a wheelchair but there was so much I
could do. Even in my chair. I just had forgotten to pay attention. I was so
angry at everything else I failed to see what I had.

I was whisked back to my chair. And my Christmas miracle was over.
I wheeled myself away from the edge of the bridge and allowed gravity to roll
me down to the bottom. I had a new perspective of life and I was happy I was
able to live again to see another Christmas.

Captain Imperfecto feeling pretty good at the Christmas Party I hosted, December 23, 2017

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Nico and Christopher enjoying time with Santa at the mall on Friday December 15, 2017.

December 19, 2017

Tis’ the season to be joyful fa, la, la, la, at least for
some. Other people sleepwalk through the Christmas lights and holiday music. As
if none of the seasonal festivities existed. And many people stress out over
every little detail hoping that their fairy tale Christmas comes true. You know
what would make my fairy tale Christmas come true? Snow.

When I walk around the heated streets of South Florida the
Christmas song I wail out is, “let it snow, let it snow, let it now." But the
closest thing to snow that many of us in South Florida will enjoy is the
delicious shaved ice dessert, snow cone.

When I was a child the local mall would announce, “Snow in
Florida! Come to the mall and let your kids play!” But all that crushed ice resembled was
a large snow cone that was dumped in the middle of parking lot. I’m pretty sure
that yellow snow wasn’t lemon flavoring.

People who live in the north and endure winter weather will
think I’m crazy for wanting such an icicle time. But my argument to you
northerners is to come to Florida in August and watch yourself melt. It isn’t a
pretty sight.

I don’t mind the ridicule of snowbirds who mock me when I
have a scarf on and jacket when the Florida weather dips just under 65 degrees.
My winter clothing only sees the light of day once or twice a year. A few more
years then it will be worth my time to wash it.

I don’t do many fun filled beach activities like surfing,
kite boarding, scuba diving, water walking, sand castle making, fish watching,
or whatever. But I do believe I'd be a ski bum if I lived near a ski resort. I
would get my annual ski pass and hit the slopes naked if I knew I wouldn’t
die of frostbite. Or arrested.

Many people who live up north pray for a white snowy
Christmas. It seems so romantic. Like the end of the movie, A Christmas
Story. Sipping wine, or gin and juice, and enjoying the snow fall like a summer monsoon. Yup, that’s for me.

Unfortunately, for now, I will have to run north and enjoy the
cold and snow when the winter times arrive. Sadly, due to work I won’t be
moving to any snowy mountains anytime soon. At least for now.

Tis’ the season to be jolly. Where anything can happen. When
the magic of Christmas arrives. Sadly
however when you live in Florida you can pretty much bet that snow won’t be
happening. Fa- la- la - la, eh, Bah humbug.

Captain Imperfecto enjoying the jacuzzi and a Cohiba. December 15, 2017.

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About Me

I lost twin daughters, Sophia and Gabriella, in 2006. Then I lost my wife in 2012. Before she died she gave me, us, 2 beautiful boys, Nico and Christopher. After losing my twin daughters and my wife, I'm blogging new adventures with our two sons.

Join us, my boys and I, on our new adventure's through life. I chose the name Captain Imperfecto because my life isn't perfect and won't be perfect. I will stumble, but I will do my best to give my kids a great life. I will document things true to form. I won't hold back. My words are real. And yes there is and will be cussing. I want you, the reader, to feel our experiences and be a part of the words expressed on the pages that you read. I want you to smell, taste and feel the events and our adventures as they happen. I promise you, you will.

So what are you waiting for? Join the blog. Join the email subscription. All I ask is "Like" my blog and my Fan Page at the same time or retweet something that you find is special. I promise you, I will try to make each blog better then the last. Contact is below or just a click above. Happy reading.